Piano-action



2 Sheets-Sheet 1. W. G. ELLIS. PIANO ACTION (No Model.)

Patented Apr. 21, 1885.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. O. ELLIS.

PIANO ACTION. h

No. 316,023. Patented Apr. 21, 1885.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE...

WILLIAM C. ELLIS, OF \VORGESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

PIANO-ACTION.

SSPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 316,028 dated April 21, 1885.

(X0 model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM G. ELLIs, of Worcester, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Piano-Actions, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention consists in certain improvements in piano-forte actions, hereinafter described and claimed, said improvements relating chiefly to the butt ofthe hammer and the jack that communicates motion from the key to the hammer.

The improvements also relate to various minor details, all of which I will now proceed to set forth.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a piano-action, showing my improvements adapted to an upright piano. Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 represent detail views. Fig. 7 represents a side elevation of a grand or square piano action embodying my improvements.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.

In the drawings, a represents the hammer, supported by the rail 1), and provided with the butt 0. The rail 1) is slotted longitudinally and provided with a series of blocks, 12, one for each hammer, each block being movable in the slotted rail and held by a setscrew, 12 in any position to which it may be adjusted. Provision is thus made for the lateral adj ustment of. the hammers, so that they can be readily placed and kept in coincidence with the strings. It will be seen that similar means may be adopted for the adjustment of the dampers and other parts of the action. The hammer is connected to a slotted flange, If, on the block b by a pivot-pin, I). Said flange is slotted or cut away from one of its surfaces to form recesses or bearings to receive the pivot-pin, and is provided with a curved metallic plate, 12 bearing at one end against a shoulder, b, its other end being in close proximity to or bearing lightly against the pivot-pin If. A screw, b entering the flange b and bearing against the outwardly-curved central part of the spring b )resses the end of the spring against the pivot-pin b". The spring projects into and fills the recesses in the flange at one side of the pivot-pin and keeps the pivotpin in place, the pin being entirely surrounded the same as if inserted in a bored orifice. The spring I) is applied to the flange b after the butt of the hammer lever or stem and the pivot-pin attached thereto have been placed in position in said flange. The pressure of the spring against the pivot-pin may be adjusted by the screw If. The end of the spring prevents the hammer-post from crowding on the pivotpin in case of the swelling of the flange.

(Z represents thejaclgpivoted at e to the post or elevated supportf on the key 9, in an upright action and to a block on said key in a square or grand action, and adapted to be vibrated or moved diagonally upward and downward by the oscillations of the key, and impart its movements to the hammer, the butt resting loosely upon the upper end of the jack, as usual. I form the butt so that it will always have a direct downward bearing on the upper end of the jack in any position which the jack may assume. This is effected by making the surface of the butt resting on the jack approximately horizontal, or more literally,

with a curvature having its center about midway between the two positions assumed by the jack at the opposite extremes of its movement. This form, it will be seen, causes the butt to rest squarely on the jack during all the movements of the latter, and insures a direct response by the butt and hammer to rapid up and down movements of the jacksuch as are produced in rapidly repeating the same note, as in trilling-the jack being adapted to operate the butt and hammer by striking against any part of the butt with which it may come in contact.

I do not of course limit myself to any particular degree of curvature of the portion of the butt against which the jack bears, but prefer to make such degree slight, so that the said port-ion will be approximately straight, the essential feature of the butt being a surface presented to the jack and having sucha bearing thereon that the butt will respond readily to every upward movement of the jack.

Heretofore, so far as I am aware, the butt has been made with an upward slope or inclination at the part with which the jack comes in contact, the belief having prevailed that such inclination was necessary in order that the jack might slide upon the butt when the key is struck, and thus assume such a position relatively to the butt that the latter can not have a direct downward bearing on the jack, and the hammer will not be held positively by the jack, but will be free to fallback or escape after striking the string. It is impossible, however, to repeat or trill rapidly with a butt so formed, the jack being incapable of returning rapidly to its operative relation with the butt. I have found that with my improved form of butt the hammer-escapement is perfect, the butt being thrown upward by the jack, and falling back slightly upon the same after the hammer has giventhe blow. The butt is covered with leather backed by a cushion, h, of felt or other thick cloth, which is in turn backed by a block, 6, of soft vulcanized rubber, whereby the butt is made elastic and caused to rise more readily under the impact ot'thejack, and thejar of saidimpact is deadened and rendered noiseless. The butt is curved upwardly at its rear side to leave a recess between it and the support to which the hammer is pivoted. Into said recess projects a'spring-wire, j,whichis attached to the frontside of the jack and passes through a slot in the jack and bears against the rear side of the butt. Said spring helps support the butt, while the jack slips along the same in giving a heavy blow, and causes the jack to return to place after the blow.

m represents the usual adjustable stop, composed of a screw with a disk or washer thereon inserted in thejack to limit its backward oscillations on its pivot, said stop bearing against a cloth-faced post, it, supported by the post. A screw, 0, is secured to the post a, and passes through a slot in the jack, and is provided with an adjustable stop or nut, 1), bearing against the outer side of thejack and adapted tolimit the forward oscillations of thejack. These two stops enable thejack to be readily adjusted. 1" represents the back stop for use in an upright action. The shank of said stop is pivoted at s to an arm or post attached to the jack support or base, has a short arm, t, against which aspring, a, bears, and holds the back stop normally in a retracted position away from the arm 22, projecting from the hammer-butt.

w represents an adjustable stop, which, when the rear end of the key is raised, strikes the arm 15 and throws the back stop against the arm 7) of the hammer-butt. The stop 10 is ascrew inserted in a fixed rail, a, and having a cloth-faced disk at its lower end. The adj ustability of said stop tnables the back stop to be readily adjusted as to the time and extent of its movement. I am aware that previous to my invention it has been proposed to arrange a jack-stop to move so as to sustain the hammer in its elevated position; but in no case has the construction been such that the said movement of the jackstop could be regulated and limited.

The rail 0, against which the hammers fall after striking the strings, is provided with a buffer for said hammers composed of a yielding tube, (1, of rubber and a covering, 0 of forms the pivot of the key. Said pin is screwthreaded at its lower end and screwed into the balance-rail g. A nut, h, screwed onto the threaded part of the pin f,centrally supports the key. The nut prevents the key from being displaced by the swelling or shrinking of the balance-rail. The pin f is adapted at its upper end to be'turned by a wrench or other tool, so as to raise or lower the pin, and thus adjust the key vertically.

i represents a bushing composed of a tube of yielding rubber inserted in the orifice oi" the key and surrounding the pin f. The bushing z" is provided with a flange, i, of the same material interposed between the bottom of the key and the nut or support h. The rubber bushing clings to the key and to the pin, and while it permits a free oscillation of the key upon the pin,prevents any rattling or noise from such movement, and prevents an up-and-down movement of the key on the pin. The flange of the bushing forms a noisepreventing washer between the bottom of the key and its support, and takes the place of the usual felt washer, which is objectionable, on account of its liability to be moth-eaten, and also to full up or mat down, the rubber being free from such objections.

I am aware that previous to my invention it has been proposed to provide pivotpins for main keys, that were threaded to engage the balance-rail, adapted to receive at their upper ends an adjListing-instrument, and were provided intermediately with a bearing shoulder or enlargement for the key. I therefore make no broad claim to any of these features. I provide the upper end of the jack with a cap, m, of hard rubber, which enables it to slip without friction on the surface of the butt, and prevents it from becoming roughened by use,like a lead-polished wooden surface, which is roughened by dampness. A represents a threaded pin screwed into the outer portion of the key at a point within the case of the instrument, and having at its lower end a washer bearing on the rest or suppo1't,which limits the downward movement of the outer end of the key. The pin A is adapted to be turned by asuitable tool to vertically adjust its position in the key, and thus adjust the extent of downward movement or dip of the key.

At various points in the action metallic screws enter wooden parts.

To obviatethe loosening of the screws caused by the shrinkage of the wood under the heads of the screws, I provide the wooden part with a metallic tube orbushing, B, (see Fig. 4,) which is threaded externally, so that it can be screwed into the wooden part or parts. I additionally secure said bushing by screws or rivets O .G, inserted in the wooden part and bearing against or inserted in the wall of the bushing. By this device metallic bearings are provided which will not shrink or reeede from the heads of the screws, the shrinkage of the wood having no effect on them.

Heretofore screws inserted directly into woodin piano-actions have required more or less frequent tightening, owing to shrinkage of the wood. Such tightening is always objectionable, because it is liable to change the relations of the parts.

\Vhentwo wooden parts are to be connected by a screw or screws, the bushing may be inserted in the outer part and made longer than the thickness of said part, so as to project from its inner side into a recess formed in the proximate side of the inner part, as shown in Fig. 4. Said recess has a metallic shoulder or wash er, D, at its bottom, on which the end of the tube or bushing bears, and through which the screw passes into the inner part.

It will be seen that the projection of the bushing into the innerpart and the provision of the metallic washer D give the two parts metallic bearingsurfaces.

In an upright action I provide the base of the jack with a narrow vertical slot, E, into which projects a fixed pin, F, which, by its bearing against the sides of the slot, laterally supports the jack and the parts connected therewith, keeping said parts from being displaced laterally and interfering with each other.

The pivots of the pedals and the levers of the pedal-action as usually constructed are liable to creak and have too much play in use when they become dry and worn. To prevent this annoyance I provide the moving part G, which may be a pedal or a pedal-lever or other pivoted part, with two lugs, H H, havinverted V-shaped recesses I.

The posts K K or other fixed parts that support the pedal or lever are provided with V- shaped projections L. entering the recesses I, the angles of the latter resting on the angles of the projections L, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

Above the backs J of the lugs H, I provide fixed projecting shoulders M, having cavities, between which said backs are interposed devices adapted to permit the part G to oscillate freely and at the same time prevent the lugs H from being raised from the projections V. Said deviecs may be anti-frietion rollers or balls N N, or blocks of yielding rubber inserted in recesses formed in said shoulders M and backs J. The pedal or lever G rocks on the V-shaped projections with the minimum of friction,while the balls N or rubber blocks I The rocker O, which supports the jack, is

usually secured to the key 5 by two screws, P P, between which is a protuberanceformed on the under side of the rocker and bearing as a fulcrum on the key, so that the inclination of the rocker can be varied by adjusting the screws P P. IVhen said piotuberance is made a part of the wooden rocker, the shrinkage of wood will loosenthe rocker, so that it will not be firmly held by the two screws. Moreover, the protuberance bearing on the wooden surface of the key will eventually sink into the latter, and thus produce disarrangement of the jack. I obviate these objections by providing the proximate surfaces of the rocker and key with metallic protuberances R R, which are secured to said parts in any desired manner, preferably by means ofshanks formed on said protuberances and entering the rocker and key, as shown in Fig. 1. The protuberance of the rocker bears on that of the key, and therefore there is no looseness or d isplacementofthe rocker caused by shrinkage or wear of wood. The metallic protuberanees maybe applied to other parts of the action where the same relations exist as between the rocker and key.

I) represents the bridle, which connects the post on the key with the han'imer-butt. The said bridle is made wholly or in part of elas tic material as spirally-wound wire-which takes up the slack of the bridle and keeps it at all times taut and operative.

In Fig. 8 the lovers L L are pivoted to standards M 011 the bottom of the ease, and communicate motion from the pedals to the damper-action within the ease. The upright pedal stick or rod I bears against the under side of the lever L. A spring, N 011 the bottom of the case bears on the lever L, causing one end of the same to bear upwardly against the inner end of the lever L, and pressing the other end of the lever L downwardly on the pedal-stick P".

Between the proximate ends of the levers L L" a ball or roller, 0 of rubber is inter posed, and a similar ball or roller between the lever L and the spring N Said rollers prevent friction and creaking between said parts when they are in use.

I make the pedalstick P extensible, so that said stick may be lengthened to compensate for wear. To this end, I prefer to'provide the stick with a threaded ferrule, I, adapted to be screwed up or down on one of its ends. Said ferrule may be provided with a rubber cushion or tip, I. The stick may have an adjustable ferrule at each end, if preferred. The hammer a, preferably, has a core or base, 2, of yielding rubber under its felt covering 3. (See Fig. l.) Said base makes the hammer more elastic, and prevents the hammer from IIS giving a hard thump or thud in striking the string.

I claim- 1. In a pianoaction, abutt having the portion operated upon by the jack forn1ed,as de scribed, to afford a positive bearing for the jack against said butt at the limit of the movement of said jack in either direction or at any intermediate point thereof, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a piano-action having ajack or similar portion contacting with other portions only upon or during the movement of the action, an independent cap or section of hard rubber secured to said contacting portion of said jack, or equivalent moving portion, substantially as set forth.

3. In a piano-action, a rest or stop for a hammer or key lever, said rest consisting of a rubber tube coated with cloth or felting, as set forth. 4

at. In a piano-action, a key having a bush ing of yielding rubberlocated in the pin-opening in the key, surrounding the center pin, and having an enlarged portion projecting from the under side of said key to form a bearingwasher for the same, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination, in a pianoaction, ofa key having a vertical opening, a center pin extending into said opening, threaded at one end to engage the balance-rail and provided with a shoulder or nut, an elastic washer resting on said shoulder or nut, having a shoulder interposed between the bottom of the key and the pin-shoulder, and the cylindrical portion embracing the central pin in the vertical keyopening, substantially as set forth.

6. In apiano-action, the pivoted back ca h adapted to move to contact with the hammer when the same moves to strike the cord or wire and thereby 1. revent unnecessary vibra tion of said hammer against said cord, and an adjustable stop to regulate the normal position of the back catch, substantially as set forth.

7. In a piano-action, the combination of the pivoted back catch adapted to move to contact with the hammer when the same moves to strike the cord or Wire, an adjustable stop to limit the movement of the back catch, and a spring normally holding the back catch in a retracted position, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination of the slotted rail 1), the hammer-supportin g blocks I), adapted to slide in the slot of said rail, and means for positively holding said blocks and the hammers in any position to which they may be adjusted, as set forth.

9. The slotted ear or projection if, having open recesses for a pivot-pin, I)", combined with said pin, and the spring 1) projecting into said recesses and adapted to retain the pivot-pin therein, said spring bearing at one end against a shoulder and being adjusted by a screw, as set forth.

10. In a piano-action, the combination of a wooden part or parts having a metallic thread ed bushing inserted therein, as described,and a screw inserted in said bushing, the latter preventing shrinkage of the bearing-surface under the head of the screw, as set forth.

11. In an upright piano, the jack support or base having the vertical slot ID, combined with the fixed pin F, entering said slot and supporting the jack laterally, as set forth.

12. The combination, with a piano-key and the jack-supporting rocker secured thereto,ol' metallic protuberances It R, secured, respect ively, to the key and rocker, and enabling the rocker to be inclined by the adjustment of its attaching-screws, as set forth.

In testimony whereoflhavesigned mynamc to this specification,in the presence of two subscribing witnesscs, this 29th day of August,

IVILLIAM G. ELLIS.

\Vitnesses:

G. F. BROWN, A. L. Wnrrn. 

